Welcome to Animal Health Services

Welcome to Animal Health Services-serving the Cave Creek, Carefree, Anthem, North Scottsdale and North Phoenix Areas. Our mission at Animal Health Services is to provide the highest quality veterinary medicine available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and to provide a level of customer service that will exceed your expectations. We like to think of each and every client as our friends and treat them as such. Your pets are an extension of our family and we treat them as if they were our own.

Caring Staff

To facilitate our diagnostic abilities, we are staffed with 7 full time veterinarians and a technical and support staff of over 40 employees. Each of our veterinarians have chosen an area of special interest and have excelled in services such as orthopedic surgery, arthroscopy, laparoscopy, endoscopy, internal medicine, neurology, oncology, advanced dental care including root canals and some restorative work, avian medicine, preventative medicine, as well as some alternative medicines.

Ear Cropping

Ear Cropping is a service provided by Dr. Cliff Faver at Animal Health Services. Dr. Faver has had clients come from near and far to have their pet undergo his unique surgical procedure. The finished product is shown in a distinctive and traditional manner that has been recognized through the ages.

The most important thing to understand about ear cropping is that it is a team effort between the vet, the owner and the pet. The following is information given post-operative to ear crop clients. It explains the post-op instructions, expectations, situations that may arise and informs of how many visits will be needed. If you have further questions please call us at 480-488-6181.

We do not recommend doing an ear crop on a dog over the age of 6 months.

Post-Operative Care Instructions:
Activity:Isolate pet from others—Please separate your pet from all other pets to avoid licking from companions. Licking will delay the healing process & cause excessive scar tissue formation that will keep the ears from standing properly.No swimming or bathing— until approved by the doctor.Playing—Avoid playing excessively with the puppy while he is learning to pick his ears up. If you play excessively, your pet will instinctively pull the ears down. Avoid “rough-housing.”

Follow up visits:Please make appointments for the following visits.4-5 day recheck—You will need to make an appointment in 4-5 days for a recheck of the apparatus and incisions.10 day suture removal—Sutures will need to be removed in 10 days. Do not remove sutures before this otherwise the healing will not be complete. Waiting longer might cause the sutures to embed into the tissue causing a painful suture removal. Please schedule this appointment for 10 days.Weekly ear taping/posting visits—Two tapings are included in the surgery price. Please schedule ear tapings once weekly after the sutures are removed.Additional tapings—After the original tapings, there will be a fee for additional tapings.

What you should do to follow-up at home:Like sculptors, our veterinarians are gifted in the art and skill of performing an ear crop. The doctor, like any artist, desires utmost beauty and distinction which also requires a serious effort at home.

Follow-up Care:Elizabethan Collar— An “e-collar” has been fitted to your puppy which is to be worn at all times. This keeps the puppy from scratching the ears which could potentially cause pain or irritation to the surgery sites.Pain Medication— An anti-inflammatory medication is provided and needs to be started the day after surgery to control any pain or swelling that may occur post-operatively. Use as directed.Watch for abnormalities—Consult the doctor if you see signs of pain, discharge, swelling or abnormal smells immediately.

Home care of ear rack and/or bandages:Your puppy has been sent home in an ear “rack” or other material to stabilize the ears. The home care of this device is critical, please follow the home care instructions carefully.

Keep the ears clean & dry—both before and after taping. If they get wet after taping (i.e. sprinklers, pools, etc…) remove the tape immediately & phone our office for an appointment for re-taping.

Keep the device dry—It is important that the ear materials/rack is kept clean & dry. If the material comes off for any reason or gets wet for any reason, please report to the hospital immediately for a re-taping.

Tape removal—if you find you have to remove the tape at home for any of the above reasons, we recommend you “un-tape” the ears vs. cutting the tape to avoid cutting the ear tissue by mistake.

Re-taping should take place immediately—during the taping/training period, it is important not to leave the tape off of the ears very long. General rule of thumb is that you add a weeks worth of taping for every 1 day you leave the tape off.

When will my dogs ears stand?Due to many variables and reasons beyond our control, it is impossible for us to guarantee that all ears will stand. If the following is understood, we will have a better chance of having your dogs ears standing well.

Recovery/Training Time—This time frame is completely dependant on how fast the dog’s cartilage matures. We have no control over this. Some dogs will take up to 6 months to complete the training process while others may never stand due to genetics. Most breeds of dog’s ears will stand in 4-6 weeks. The shorter ears will stand quicker while the longer ears will take longer.Taping at home—We recommend having the ears taped by our professionals. Any taping done by you will be your responsibility. If the tape is applied too tightly there is a chance of cutting off circulation and the tip of the ear may die.Playing—Avoid playing excessively with the puppy while he is learning to pick his ears up. If he plays excessively, your pet will instinctively pull the ears down. Avoid “rough-housing.” Try to get him to pick-up the ears by making unusual noises or by blowing a whistle to get his attention.Lack of interest— or “Deadhead syndrome” is seen when the dog is simply not interested in his surroundings to try and work his ears & pick them up. Use a silent dog whistle or any other means possible to try and stimulate some interest in picking the ears up.Poor Cartilage—Rarely, a dog will develop soft, pliable, thick cartilage that simply does not have the ability to stand, and ears never will stand properly.Moisture—Ears that are continuously wet after taping are very slow to stand. The cartilage loses its rigidity & develops scar tissue formation. Please keep ears clean & dry.

If you work with your dog and your dog works with you, the ears should stand well in several weeks with a minimal amount of discomfort to you and your pet.

Situations that may arise:While every effort is made to assure a smooth recovery, there are some uncontrollable situations that may arise.

“My pet seems to be irritated.”—Some irritation from the tape is normal. If you feel that it is in excess, please report to Animal Health Services as soon as possible.
“The base popped out!”—Occasionally the base (the part in the ear) will pop out. If this occurs, pull the ear and post over (centrally) the top of the head and push the base back in. If it continues to come out, then we will need to re-tape the ear as soon as possible.“He keeps shaking his head!”—Try to discourage head shaking & ear rubbing. If necessary, you can crate your dog to discourage too much activity. Watch for swelling or if the ears are not beginning to heal.

TestimonialsWe do corrective procedures!

“Dr. Faver and the staff at AHS were amazing and far exceeded my expectations! My Doberman Pinscher “Bruno” originally had his ears cropped by his breeder, who unfortunately did not do a very good job. We went through the whole posting process for about a year and his ears still would not stand. One of Bruno’s ears was also stretched out from his tendon so he was not able to pull his ear up all the way. We searched for a doctor that was able to handle a corrective procedure and were very fortunate to find Dr. Faver at AHS. He came highly recommended from several people I spoke to and we were very comfortable with him right away. He knew exactly how to correct the problem and executed it beautifully!
Rob the office manager was very helpful by setting up the appointment, getting me checked in and signed up as a new patient over the phone. He even suggested some places to stay in the area as well as some local eateries. Dr. Faver gave me a tour of the facility and I was blown away at how modern and state-of-the-art the place and equipment was.
The whole procedure went better than I anticipated and his ears turned out better than I could have ever asked for. He has full range of motion and his ears are beautiful. The cost of the procedure was very reasonable and the trip we made out form Southern California was totally worth it. Whether you’re in the Cave Creek area or not I would highly recommend coming down and checking them out, they work wonders!” Chris Hernandez – Simi Valley, CA

Bruno’s owner, Chris, was not happy with his original ear crop done by his breeder in CA.

Affiliations

All content provided on www.ahsvet.com is meant for educational purposes only on health care and medical issues that may affect pets and should never be used to replace professional veterinary care from a licensed veterinarian.